Vladimir Putin is 'alive' but 'neutralised' as shadowy security chiefs stage a stealthy coup in Moscow, it was claimed last night. Former FSB chief Nikolai Patrushev was behind the plot, claimed chairman of the pro-Kremlin national Islamic Committee, Geydar Dzhemal. Snip... 'I think that Putin is neutralised at the moment, but of course, he is alive,' said Dzhemal, seen as a Kremlin loyalist. 'He is under the control of the power-wielding agencies, who have, in my opinion, organised a coup d'etat.' snip.. 'My information is that Patrushev met Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov in Pyatigorsk on 11 March and tempted him...

From Vitaly Klim's facebook. Friends from Moscow reported: since yesterday, since around 11.03.14: 40 minutes and to date, the core functions of the Office of the RUSSIAN FEDERATION Dmitry Medvedev, are in control of the ARMED FORCES of the RUSSIAN FEDERATION. Noticed increased appearances of "member-carriers" [slang for chauffeured limousines of the government people] accompanied by TRAFFIC POLICE and security to the Kremlin and the Russian Government, and the Kremlin and Moscow itself, marked by unprecedented activity of the helicopter flights. Today, on several occasions landing helicopters were also seen on the territory of Hospital at the Office of the...

Washington (AFP) - The United States warned Russia Thursday not to use energy costs as an instrument of political coercion, after Moscow scrapped its last gas price discounts for Ukraine. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev earlier announced the move, effectively raising the price by $100 to $485 for every 1,000 cubic meters of gas. Asked about the decision, White House spokesman Jay Carney warned "markets should determine energy prices." "A country should not use supply and pricing terms as tools of coercion to interfere in Ukraine or anywhere else," he said.

President Barack Obama offered a private request Monday to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for some “space” on missile defense ahead of November’s elections. “On all these issues, particularly on missile defense, this, this can be solved but it’s important for him to give me space,” Obama said, referring to incoming Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a TV pool reporter who heard audio recorded by a Russian reporter who was in the room moments before the two leaders spoke to reporters after their 90-minute meeting. “Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you,” Medvedev responded. A...

ABC’s Jake Tapper has a stunning report out of Seoul, South Korea this morning. According to him, President Obama was caught on a hot mic telling Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev that if given “space,” he’ll have more flexibility “after my election.” Here’s how Tapper puts it: At the tail end of his 90 minute meeting with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev Monday, President Obama said that he would have “more flexibility” to deal with controversial issues such as missile defense, but incoming Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to give him “space.” The exchange was picked up by microphones as reporters...

President Barack Obama would like to do some things for Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and President-elect Vladimir Putin that he does not want American voters to know about before they decide whether to re-elect him in November. That was the intended-to-be-secret message Obama gave Medvedev in South Korea on Monday. But Obama was caught delivering the message on tape -- and, no matter how the liberal media try to spin it, the moment is destined to become emblematic of Obama as a man and as a president. "On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this can be solved. But...

President Obama assured Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Monday that he'd have "more flexibility" after the November election, during a conversation that appeared to focus on the touchy issue of missile defense. Obama, during a sit-down with Medvedev in Seoul, urged Moscow to give him "space" until after November. The conversation was relayed by a TV pool producer who listened to the recording from a Russian journalist. "This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility," Obama told Medvedev.

Turns out he’s not Kenyan after all. He’s KGB. All this time, people were worried that President Obama was born in Africa and that his radical agenda had been crafted by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Saul Alinsky on the streets of Chicago’s South Side. Now we know his real radical hidden agenda is in service of the Kremlin.

President Barack Obama’s open mic comments to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, asking for “space” on missile defense until after the US presidential elections in November when he believes he will have more “flexibility” to negotiate have the White House in full damage control mode. Obama’s request that the Russians hang tight until after the election is not in itself all that surprising. This is an election year and something as vital to US security as missile defense should not be negotiated in a partisan atmosphere. But the key word in the president’s comments is “flexibility.” And the key question is:...

President Obama's policy reset with Russia is working out as well as his economic stimulus, Guantanamo closing, spending cutbacks, green energy investments, debt discipline, Benghazi investigation, Egyptian fallout, midterm campaigning, Syrian dictator-ousting, Bush-blaming, Libya-calming, Iran-isolating, job approval, budget-passing, Kim Jong-un-taming, ObamaCare implementation and Muslim-outreaching. American presidents have done naive things in the past. Few if any have been so totally and embarrassingly fruitless as this Democrat's self-imposed suck-up to Russian President Vladimir Putin. And yet this Democrat remains hopeful and stubbornly continues them despite the absolute absence of any encouraging returns. You'd think Obama was a Cubs fan. In fact,...

As violent mobs shouting Islamist slogans rampaged against U.S. diplomats across the Middle East and Southeast Asia in the weeks following the fatal Sept. 11, 2012 attack on U.S. officials in Libya, Russian President Vladimir Putin saw a chance to kick the United States when it was down. He did it by expelling the U.S. Agency for International Development, whose work -- advising private groups on democracy, as it has done since the 1990s -- he evidently resented. For good measure, he just cancelled the longstanding Nunn-Lugar program of cooperation on destroying and securing old Soviet weapons of mass destruction....

- FrontPage Magazine - http://frontpagemag.com - Russia Wants Obama Re-ElectedPosted By David Meir-Levi On May 11, 2012 @ 12:46 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | No Comments Well, now we know what the Â“hot micÂ” incident was all about. The Wall Street JournalÂ’s Â“Moscow Raises Alarm over Missile-Defense Plan for EuropeÂ” (Friday, May 4, 2012), makes the connection.At an international conference on Thursday, May 3, organized at RussiaÂ’s initiative, the Russian delegates showed computer-generated images of a hypothetical Russian pre-emptive missile attack on segments of a missile defense shield and early warning system that the US and NATO want to put...

Ronald Reagan, together with Margaret Thatcher, stood up to Moscow, and brought the Soviet Empire to its knees. In contrast, Barack Obama has gone on his knees to grovel before the Russians. The exchange between President Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in Seoul was a display of supplication before a major strategic adversary on an issue of great importance for US national security – missile defence. -excerpt- Barack Obama’s comments are disturbing on several levels. First, they display a willingness to placate America’s enemies, and cede ground over issues of national interest. Second, Obama is linking foreign policy...

President Obama gave a hot mic supplication to departing Russian president Dmitry Medvedev that Putin should give him more Â“spaceÂ” and Â“flexibilityÂ” on such national security issues as Anti-Ballistic Missile defense. According to Obama, this will be his Â“last election,Â” after all. Of course, any mention of this eye-popping exchange outside the credentialed press will be spun by Pravda West as mere blog fodder for de-contextualized right-wing hysterics. Well, comrades, letÂ’s at least make sure our hysterics are properly contextualized, shall we? The exposed convo between the two outgoing presidents runs as follows and was originally reported by Jake Tapper...

Newt Gingrich, the first candidate to campaign in Delaware, came here Monday night pushing his $2.50-per-gallon-of-gas energy plan and jabbing President Obama about comments caught on an open microphone with outgoing Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. Gingrich said that Obama’s suggestion that he would have more flexibility to negotiate on nuclear arms after winning the 2012 election, was “destructive of American interests.” “This is a president who is amazingly destructive of American interests, something by the way of which we were reminded of today, when he didn’t know there was an open microphone,” he said to meeting of local Republican groups....

SEOUL, South Korea — At the tail end of his 90 minute meeting with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev Monday, President Obama said that he would have “more flexibility” to deal with controversial issues such as missile defense, but incoming Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to give him “space.” The exchange was picked up by microphones as reporters were let into the room for remarks by the two leaders. The exchange: President Obama: On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved but it’s important for him to give me space. President Medvedev: Yeah, I understand. I...

MOSCOW — In a wide-ranging attack on the United States as it elected a new president, the Russian leader Dmitri Medvedev warned on Wednesday that Moscow might deploy short-range missiles in the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad to counter a perceived threat from a proposed American missile defense shield in eastern Europe. His remarks, in his first state of the nation address since assuming the presidency in May, coincided with the election of Barack Obama and offered a chill glimpse into the potential issues and tensions confronting the new American leader when he takes office in January. Mr. Medvedev did not...

GOP lawmaker presses Obama on reports of ‘secret’ missile dealBy Jeremy Herb - 05/23/12 05:13 PM ET Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) is not backing down from his allegations that President Obama has a “secret deal” with Russia on missile defense. Turner sent another letter to President Obama on Wednesday that urged the White House to explain what missile defense deals it made with Russia, citing Russian reports that a deal was reached and then dropped without being made public. Turner and many other Republicans have seized on Obma’s “hot mic” comment to then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in March, when he...

President Obama just gave the world a glimpse into his future foreign policy plans this week, should he win a second term. On tap for Obama II: more faith in our adversaries, more betrayal of our traditional allies and more unilateral indulgence in nuclear abolition fantasies. Monday, President Obama told Russian President Medvedev that “This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility.” Medvedev responded that he would dutifully report that tidbit to Vladimir Putin back in the Kremlin. The men apparently did not realize their discussion was being caught by a live microphone. Given that the...

On the Friday morning edition of Fox and Friends, the panel discussed, among other things, President Obama’s trip to Africa along with the continuing saga of Edward Snowden and the NSA leaks. At one point, they played a clip of the president at the joint news conference in Senegal where the president admitted that he did not personally contact the presidents of China or Russia because “number one, I shouldn’t have to. This is something that routinely is dealt with between law enforcement officials and various countries.” However, host Steve Doocy and guest host Tucker Carlson were adept in pointing...

Security: The president insists he wasn't trying to "hide the ball" until after the election, but the man who as candidate pledged to "end misguided defense policies" such as missile defense is fulfilling that campaign promise. Despite the administration's rap-dancing with the help of the usual suspects in the mainstream media, it's clear that the recent meeting between President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Seoul, South Korea, couldn't be more different in tone and meaning from the one President Ronald Reagan had with Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev in Reykjavik, Iceland, in October 1986. President Obama has tried to...

By Mr. Curmudgeon:The freakishly weasel-like Valerie Jarrett warned Americans not voting for President Obama , "After we win this election, it's our turn. Payback time. Everyone not with us is against us and they better be ready because we don't forget. The ones who helped us will be rewarded; the ones who opposed us will get what they deserve. There is going to be hell to pay. Congress won't be a problem for us this time. No election to worry about after this is over and we have two judges ready to go."This is what President Obama meant when he...

The sound bite went viral -- the president of the United States asking the Russian president to carry a message to Putin for "space" in dealing with contentious missile defense issues until after the election so the American president would have "more flexibility." The photos went viral as well: President Obama's hand on Medvedev's knee, the smiling president with his arm around Medvedev's shoulder, the two of them sipping tea.It is bad, of course, on many levels, but historically consistent. The president is notoriously hostile to missile defense, as are the Russians. The Russians are particularly hostile to U.S. missile...

Democrats are crying foul over GOP suggestions that President Obama has a “secret deal” on missile defense with Russia. The fight began in March, when a hot mic at a summit caught Obama telling then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he’d have more “flexibility” on the issue after the election. Medvedev famously responded that he would transmit that information to Vladimir Putin, who is now Russia's president. Republicans immediately attacked Obama for making a secret deal, and they used this week’s floor debate on the Defense authorization bill to highlight their argument. No one in Congress has been more vocal about...

...Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin said they would sign an agreement on securing and destroying nuclear material to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, replacing a 1992 deal that expired on Monday.

The Fiscal 2013 Defense spending bill that passed the House 326 to 90 with bipartisan support Thursday evening included an amendment that would prohibit President Barack Obama from making good on a deal with Russia that he appeared to hint at earlier this year. Introduced by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), the amendment bars the administration from sharing classified missile defense information with Russia. In late March, an inadvertent hot-mic moment caught Obama asking Russian president Dmitri Medvedev for “space” until after the election, saying he would then have more “flexibility” to

The 2012 U.S. presidential election presents a contrast to the 2008 election in terms of their perceptions by the Russian elite. In 2008, then-President Dmitry Medvedev expressed a desire to work with a "modern" U.S. leader rather than one "whose eyes are turned back to the past." He was referring to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. But influential Russian elites voiced their support for the Republican candidate, John McCain, despite McCain calling President Vladimir Putin a KGB spy who has no soul and calling to expel Russia from the Group of Eight leading industrial nations. Even though McCain was more...

Wouldn’t you like to have been in the White House Situation Room when the president decided to take out Osama bin Laden? Thrilling, right? You’d have been part of history and have stories to tell your grandchildren. Well, you can’t. Not even if you donate a million dollars to the Obama re-election campaign. Sorry, Bill Mocker, you’ll have to wait for the movie. It’s Top Secret. Nor can you listen in when the President is at one of his G-8 Summits (or is it G-20 by now?) It would doubtless be interesting to learn what the Big Wigs are deciding...

Medvedev: Working with comrade Obama has been the ‘best three years’ for U.S.-Russian relations in a long time posted at 7:45 pm on April 1, 2012 by Morgen Richmond Throughout the 2008 campaign Barack Obama promised that if elected he would ‘restore our standing’ in the world. I’m not sure all of our allies feel the same way, but as far as Russia is concerned: mission accomplished. My colleague Barack Obama and I have once again had a constructive discussion of the various issues on the international agenda and on bilateral cooperation between the Russian Federation and the United States....

Despite a bipartisan federal law prohibiting financial contracts with the Russian government-owned arms giant Rosoboronexport, the Obama administration announced that it would be purchasing another $680 million worth of military helicopters from the state company for the Afghan regime of Hamid Karzai. The contract comes after the Pentagon already spent $411 million with the supplier since May of 2011, bringing the estimated amount of U.S. taxpayer funds funneled to the state-owned behemoth to about $1 billion in recent years. The latest deal, however, drew furious outrage from across the political spectrum. Critics and lawmakers complained that the controversial scheme would...

It remains to be seen how the media will cover the explosive revelation from ABC's Jake Tapper that Barack Obama asked Russian president Dmitri Medvedev to get Vladimir Putin to give him some "space" on missile defense so that he could be more "flexible" with the Russians in a second term. So far, the tepid coverage from National Journal and the Washington Post suggests that the media doesn't consider a request to another nation to pipe down so an American President can win a second term and deliver more favorable policy to a potential antagonist more than a "gaffe". They...

National security and foreign policy have received short shrift in the 2012 presidential-election campaign. Mitt Romney made a quick swing through Britain, Israel, and Poland to suggest he would repair strained relations with America’s closest allies. President Obama has repeatedly reminded voters that he gave the order to kill Osama bin Laden. That’s about it. For the most part, each campaign has sung a single note: Romney has tried to convince voters he can fix the broken economy. Obama has tried to convince voters that Romney is a heartless, plutocratic tax cheat and, possibly, a murderer to boot. Consequential international...

<p>The Pentagon is canceling the planned fourth phase of an anti-missile system that had been scheduled for deployment in Poland in 2022. The SM3 IIb missile was significant for two reasons: It was the only interceptor planned for the Europe-based system that could have defended the United States against an attack from Iran; and it was the component of the system most decried by Russia, which claimed that it could be used against its intercontinental missiles.</p>

The conservative super-PAC American Crossroads mocks President Obama as "President Flexible" in a spoof of Hollywood spy movies released Friday. The Karl Rove-linked outside spending group takes Obama to task in the video, titled "Operation Hot Mic," for telling Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday that he will have “more flexibility” to deal with missile defense after the presidential election. The private conversation was caught by live microphones. "Your mission is simple, Mr. Obama: Win one last election to gain unchecked flexibility, weaken our defenses and fundamentally transform. Dmitry will transmit the information," says a female narrator in the video....

Last Monday, President Obama was overheard whispering to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev about plans to pursue another round of reductions of our stockpiles of nuclear weapons and the halt of a European missile defense shield. At the end of the meeting the two leaders’ conversation were caught on a hot mike. It seems that our “teleprompter President” hasn’t learned very much about the equipment used to spread his propaganda. Obama: (Referring to Vladimir Putin) “On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved, but it’s important for him to give me space.” Medvedev: “Yeah, I understand....

President Vladimir Putin said Russia had confidence in the euro and had made the right decision to keep much of its reserves in the European currency. "I would like to say it outright: yes, we trust the euro," Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript of an interview with German public broadcaster ARD before a trip to Germany and the Netherlands. Putin said Moscow and the European Union have disagreements, but that the leading euro zone countries were moving in the right direction in handling the current crisis. "That gives us confidence that we have made the right move to...

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s off-air comments that Russian Presidents are given a secret file about extraterrestrials living among us created much media interest. Most news reports claimed that Medvedev was simply joking. His apparent reference to the Men In Black movie as a source of information on a super secret agency that monitors extraterrestrials on Earth was commonly cited as key evidence that he was in fact joking. The reasoning is that no political leader would refer reporters to a comedy to clarify national policy. It has now emerged that Medvedev was not referring to the Men in Black comedy...

AFP - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari was expected in Moscow on Wednesday for talks with Russian leaders on his first major foreign visit since the killing of Osama bin Laden by US forces. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will host Zardari for talks on Thursday at the Kremlin where officials from the two countries were also expected to sign agreements on cooperation in agriculture, aviation and energy, a spokesman for the Pakistan Embassy in Moscow told AFP. "Economics will be the focus of the visit," said the spokesman, Raja Abdul Qayyum. The three-day visit to Russia will be Zardari's first...

President Obama’s hot mic moment defined his trip to South Korea and may very well define his reelection bid. The reason his uncensored remark resonates is that it supports a pre-existing narrative that President Obama’s promises are not to be trusted. Before he backed off the campaign trail, no one made this argument more frequently than Newt Gingrich. After his second place finish in Florida, he said, “If he [President Obama] can have a record this bad, unemployment this bad, deficits this bad, policies this bad, gasoline prices this high, and still get re-elected, you can’t imagine how radical he’ll...

Vladimir Putin: 'We Have Won. Glory to Russia' Putin claims resounding election win as opposition activists allege widespread fraud 4 March 2012 Vladimir Putin, with Dmitry Medvedev, sheds a tear as he addresses supporters. Putin has claimed a resounding election victory. Photograph: Mikhail Voskresensky /Reuters Vladimir Putin has claimed a resounding victory in Russia's presidential election, provoking a furious response from opposition activists who alleged that the vote was marred by widespread fraud. At a rally in front of the Kremlin an emotional Putin, with tears running down his face and flanked by the outgoing president, Dmitry Medvedev, said: "I...

Russia’s national parliament, the Federal Assembly, has voted to restrict abortion for the first time in decades, in the face of a demographic decline that has reduced the population by 2.9% since 1992. The new law, which is expected to be signed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, prohibits abortions beyond the 12th week of pregnancy, and imposes a mandatory waiting period of between two and seven days. Exceptions are permitted for economic hardship, which allows abortions up to the point 22 weeks of gestation. Join a Facebook page to end abortion here. Legislators discarded proposals by the Orthodox Church to...

Memo to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev: next time you plunge into a crowd, don't forget to park your car first. Medvedev took his "Forward, Russia!" motto a bit too far in an incident captured on video, stepping from the driver's seat of an SUV and then frantically trying to hold the vehicle back as it kept moving towards a group of people waiting to greet him.

Russian officials say the country plans to reimburse Iran, after Moscow canceled the sale of an air defense missile system to Tehran... In the scope of a US$800 million contract brokered in 2005, Russia was obliged to send Iran at least five S-300 missile systems. But last month, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev banned the sale of the missile systems following United Nations sanctions against such arms sales. The UN imposed the sanctions in June for Iran's refusal to stop enriching uranium. Medvedev also outlawed the sale of tanks, aircraft and sea vessels to Iran... The news comes on the heels...

US President Barack Obama knew about the FBI operation to smash an alleged Russian spy ring before meeting President Dmitry Medvedev last week, but did not raise it at the talks, an aide said. But the White House said the revelations, which were condemned by Russia, would not interfere with the effort by both sides to 'reset' their relations, which has been pursued ever since Obama took office last year. The alleged operation was busted just a few days after a warm summit between Obama and Medvedev at the White House at which both sides made an elaborate effort to...

One of the Cold War's most famous defectors said Tuesday that Russia may have as many as 50 deep-cover couples spying inside the United States. Oleg Gordievsky, a former deputy head of the KGB in London who defected in 1985, said President Dmitry Medvedev would know the number of illegal operatives in each target country. The 71-year-old ex-double agent said that, based on his experience in Russian intelligence, he estimates that Moscow likely has 40 to 50 couples operating undercover in the United States. "For the KGB, there's usually 40 to 50 couples, all illegal," said Gordievsky, who defected to...

Dmitry Medvedev dining in San Francisco tonight Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is on a friendly visit to the Bay Area before flying across the country to meet with President Barack Obama, and he comes in peace. Which must be why he brought along the flagship of the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet, the nuclear-capable missile cruiser Varyag. Makes total sense. Medvedev will be dining with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Secretary of State George Schultz Tuesday night. On Wednesday, he'll be visiting technology companies including Twitter, Apple, Google and Cisco Systems, in part to promote an "innovation center" modeled on Silicon...

Dmitry Medvedev says he would not rule out running again for president in 2012 elections, keeping up the uncertainty about the future political intentions of Russia's ruling duo. Mr Medvedev's refusal to dismiss the idea of a second term came amid frenzied speculation about the intentions of strongman prime minister Vladimir Putin, who many believe is plotting a return to the Kremlim. "Some time ago I did not intend to stand for president," Mr Medvedev said today, referring to his emergence from relative obscurity to sweep the 2008 polls. "But fate worked out that way and therefore I'm not going...

Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev promised Wednesday a new era in relations between the United States and Russia and made a milestone bid to agree far-reaching nuclear arms cuts. After holding their first face-to-face meeting in London ahead of the G20 summit, the leaders issued a joint statement saying the "era when our countries viewed each other as enemies is long over." Obama and Medvedev also stepped up the pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme as they cited many areas of common interest between Russia and the United States. ..." http://www.france24.com/en/20090401-obama-medvedev-pledge-new-era-relations Also here:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090401/wl_afp/usrussiadiplomacynuclear_20090401152002